The Reaper's Revenge
by Wonder777
Summary: What happens when Voldemort finally meets the one being he feared the most? He learns that Death doesn't like it when people try for immortality. Canon compliant.


_**The Reaper's Revenge**_

 _ **What was going through Voldemort's mind in the last few moments of his life and beyond? I attempt to give my interpretation of his transition to the afterlife. This is canon to the Deathly Hallows.**_

The last thing the Dark Lord sees is a flash of green light before it all goes black. His Killing Curse had once again rebounded on him. _No, this can't be_ he thinks in that split second, _I can't be dying_.

Looking up, he sees that it was a thestral grabbing at his neck and arms with its beak. He couldn't move his limbs, only his eyes. The black skin stretched over bones and muscle fascinated him. He always heard stories about them from when he was at Hogwarts despite his fear for anything related to death.

For a moment, he lay there before what little bit of his soul was yanked out of his body. One last look at his corpse lying there on the floor of the Great Hall and they go through a dark tunnel for what seemed like forever. No matter how much he struggled, the creature's beak was too strong for him to break out of.

Finally, they see a light at the end of the tunnel and pass through it. The creature drops him in what looks like a gigantic reception hall and vanishes. Voldemort was all alone, so he takes a moment to explore. Black candles were lit every two feet and gave off an unusual amount of light. The tapestries were of a material he never felt before and the runes were ones he didn't recognize. It was very ornate, something fitting of one of his stature.

Then there was an enormous throne at the far end. He goes over and feels the carved black stone and admired the workmanship that went into it. _All mine, but I would put a little more decor to my fitting._ But he was stopped when he tried to sit down in it by a wind flinging him back into the center of the room. It also paralyzes him so he couldn't try again. "NOBODY SITS ON MY THRONE!" A voice bellows from every corner of the room, making him flinch.

Finally, he was allowed to turn around, he sees the very being that in life he had feared most. The look of it horrified the now fallen Dark Lord. It resembled a hooded creature in looks, similar to a Dementor, but worse. In a commanding voice, weakened by his obvious nervousness, he demands to know what the creature was, what just happened and where they were.

A few silent moments later, it spoke. "Tom Marvolo Riddle, I am Death itself. The one being everyone meets sooner or later. I can take on many forms for everyone crossing over to the other side." The voice was a lot like his own, only more sinister. "And finally you have come to me. Guess the Horcruxes didn't work out after all." It then laughs, echoing across the hall. "For children, I may take on a grandfather like figure and help them transition. Others, I come as an old friend. You however, I manifest in the form of misery and pain." He demonstrates his shapeshifting skills.

"As for what happened and where we are now, you are dead and this is where those who cross over are judged. You have made my thestrals very, very busy with your little attempt to take over the world. Eliminating those who stood in your way." Death then waves his hand and books appear on a stone table in front of the throne. Voldemort was able to get close enough to see they all had his birth name on the cover.

But first, I have to explain how my kingdom works. Magical and Muggle coexist here. I see no difference between the two." Death waves a hand in front of him and Voldemort sees two pictures. One of bliss and peace, the other an infernal wasteland where anguished souls scream in torment. Voldemort was reminded of his youth at the orphanage when they dragged the kids to church, preaching about Heaven and Hell. Then it disappears.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Death glides to the throne and sits comfortably in it on a black velvet pillow, "these books contain every word, thought and deed you had in life. They will be essential to where you will go from here." It began to pick up the first book and opens it. Each little thing was read aloud, while the fallen Dark Lord had no choice but to listen.

After a few of these books were read out, he had enough and raised his hand to do some wandless magic, but Death just laugs at his futile attempt. "Your magical abilities were stripped from you at death. I have all the power here." It then paralyzes Voldemort with one wave of a bony hand.

"Now, for almost everyone, it's Paradise or Hell for eternity, but there is a place for special cases like yours." Death looks at him through the empty sockets that passed as its eyes. "For those whose souls are damaged beyond repair. A soul needs to be whole to go on. And with you, that is where you will go." It leans in and is eye to eye with Voldemort, passing what would be a sadistic grin on his face.

"Yes, you are dead, but because of your fear of the inevitable, and the state of your soul, I sentence you to eternity to limbo. Where you will do nothing but watch whole souls go on to their final destination. This is the worst part of Hell, for I see people like you as a threat to the natural order." Death raises another hand and with one wave, begins to change Voldemort's form.

The former Dark Lord starts to feel pain beyond measure. His skin begins to blister and bleed as the robes he wore were removed, leaving him only clad in a loincloth. Then he is shrunk into what looked like a mutated, deformed baby. Death produces a mirror, and shows Voldemort his new form. "Fitting for a weak coward, dying is a part of life. This is the punishment for those who dare try to defy me. Especially those who use dark magic to create Horcruxes in an attempt to try and keep me away."

The once mighty Dark Lord now lay there on the cold marble floor, trembling. For the first time, he realized all he did was in vain. Now he was paying for it. Death then grants him one small act of mercy and shows him a vision of his mother in a place of bliss. "She is really disappointed about what you had done, now you will never see her again. I come for all, and people like you are a threat to my kingdom, so I created a place where you can do no more harm."

Death gives him one last glimpse before opening a portal and it sucks up the deformed Voldemort into another dimension. Limbo was that special place of Hell where Voldemort would never have closure. Unable to crossover, he would be paying the ultimate price for disrespecting Death in the highest form. Doomed to watch those passing him find their final resting place. He was definitely not a ghost, at least not in the sense one would think of as in a deceased spirit tethered to the land of the living, but as one in the land of the dead.


End file.
